The Authoritarians
by Bob Altemeyer, John W. Dean · first published 2006
78% recommend22% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Explains the mindset of authoritarian followers through research on their traits and attitudes. It is the clearest account of the topic and a free, readable starting point for understanding deference.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Ever since John W. Dean published his Conservatives Without Conscience in 2006, much interest has been vested in the research of Dr. Bob Altemeyer that was so prominently featured in the book. In CWC, Dean set out to learn why modern conservatives seemed to think and behave in ways diametrically opposite the righteous and moral values they so publicly espoused. What he discovered was an existing body of scientific research tracing back to the cinders of the Holocaust. This research focused on the Authoritarian Personality, which social scientists believe was the enabling element within
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I can't point you to a book written by a soldier, but you might be able to find some conclusions by reading "The Authoritarians" by Bob Altemeyer[0], which studies, as you say, why people defend/enforce the power of evil people. [0] https://www.theauthoritarians.org/options-for-getting-the-bo...
on “The Suspected Poisoning of Alexey Navalny, Putin’s Most Prominent Adversary” ↗The Authoritarians by Bob Altemeyer https://theauthoritarians.org/
on “The Twitter Files, Part Six” ↗…about how people adapt to technology, and that defines their aesthetic sensibilities (and predicts electronic/industrial music). http://www.artype.de/Sammlung/pdf/russolo_noise.pdf Bob Altemeyer's The Authoritarians has gotten multiple re-readings (it's a short book/very long essay, but is published free online) and has given me great insight into the attitudes behind the right-wing populists currently dominating…
on “Ask HN: What essay/blogpost do you keep going back to reread?” ↗As I mentioned, the exact reasons why people value hierarchies are IMHO not known. But people do value them, although differently. I recommend looking at the book The Authoritarians from Bob Altemeyer, which outlines the mindset of people who are Trump supporters. There is also some research into universal values like Jonathan Haidt does, which shows that liberals value hierarchy…
on “How a preventable disaster killed six marines” ↗This is pretty much the premise of Bob Altemeyer's work: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Altemeyer His book The Authoritarians is the one that most elaborates on it, so works that cite or respond to it would probably be exactly what you're looking for.
on “They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45 (1955)” ↗…he's much more obviously immoral by "normal" (i.e. something along the lines of what you and I probably think) standards. Bob Altemeyer explains this mindset much better than I could in his book The Authoritarians: https://theauthoritarians.org
on “DA, sheriff, who shared woman's nude photos on phone are covered by QI” ↗You should look up the free ebook by Bob Altemeyer called Authoritarians. It explains how religious organizations that highly value authority and discourage critical thinking get corrupted.
on “The Polymarket users betting on when Jesus will return” ↗Of interest I suppose in the context of your comment. Bob Altemeyer's - The Authoritarians: https://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/
on “This Machine Can Tell Whether You're Liberal or Conservative” ↗Where have you heard this about Chinese culture in particular? I’ve only heard of such a trait in reading Robert Altemeyer’s book The Authoritarians, where it is described as a common trait of right wing authoritarians, who appear to not be very good about comparing the various ideas they have together to see if they are contradictory. Altemeyer…
on “China’s Economy Slows Sharply” ↗